Global CONNECT™ Network

Many regions around the world recognize the power of collaboration to accelerate the communications and partnership so critical to innovation and cluster growth. In response and inspired by the success of CONNECT in San Diego, several regions have created initiatives similar to CONNECT. CONNECT Scotland (1996) and CONNECT Sweden (1998) were the early adopters. The network of related regional programs has spread and continues to grow around the world. They vary widely in size, governance, funding, and programming, but all share in the mission to help entrepreneurs and build innovation capacity in their region.

Global CONNECT™ seeks to assist its network, and in turn, the enterprises they serve, to connect with resources in other regions around the world.

ANU CONNECT

ANU Connect Ventures manages a $30 million pre-seed investment fund of the ANU-MTAA Super Venture Capital Partnership, established with the support of the ACT Government to invest in early-stage commercial opportunities arising out of research at the ANU and other ACT-based research institutions and R&D companies.

The fund will invest in any industry sector, including but not limited to the life sciences, biotech and health care, ICT, advanced materials, space, defense and energy sectors.

ATP Innovations

Owned by four of Australia's top universities, ATP Innovations is a vibrant, world-class technology business accelerator that supports emerging businesses in the biotechnology, ICT and electronics sectors. Though our subsidiary company bizCapital we also make matching funds pre-seed investments in very early stage ventures. Our professional development programs are delivered though bizNetClub which offers over 20 learning events per year. Additional skills development programs are offered through affiliates such as the NSW Enterprise Workshop which provides emerging companies the opportunity to test their business case through intensive team-based business plan workshops.

Located within the Australian Technology Park (ATP), on the fringe of the Sydney CBD, ATP Innovations supports Australia's largest cluster of emerging technology businesses. Our programs focus on value-added services to accelerate business growth, and whilst many clients are located at the ATP, our virtual program supports businesses regardless of location.

BioCrossroads

BioCrossroads is a catalyst for life sciences ideas. Whether it’s providing funding, launching new businesses or products, or partnering with our state’s research institutions, global companies, philanthropic organizations and government, BioCrossroads is advancing Indiana’s next generation of growth and innovation.

BiotechCorp

The Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp) is an agency under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and is wholly-owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated. BiotechCorp is governed by the Biotechnology Implementation Council and advised by the Biotechnology International Advisory Panel, both chaired by the honorable Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The objective of the establishment of BiotechCorp is to identify value propositions in both R&D and commerce and support these ventures via financial assistance and development services.

CONNECT

Founded in 1985 at the urging of San Diego's business community, CONNECT is widely regarded as one of the United States' most successful regional program linking high-technology and life science entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success: technology, money, markets, management, partners, and support services. Originally founded by the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), CONNECT spun out of the university in 2005.

CONNECT Bogotá Región

August 2011: CONNECT Bogotá.Región has just been created, with assistance from key university, industry, and government partners in the region, to play a leading role in the further development of the innovation system in Bogotá. The organization's infrastructure is under development, including the website.

CONNECT Denmark

CONNECT Denmark is a non-profit organization founded in April 2000. The organization offers high-growth entrepreneurs and start-ups advice and access to a unique nationwide network of sponsors and members. This network represents the best competencies within the Danish business community, universities and organizations.

Sponsors and members contribute through voluntary efforts to connect the entrepreneur with the technical and business competencies they lack, in order to develop the business platform necessary to attract investors and strategic partnerships.

The organization consists of five regional offices as well as a head office. This ensures direct contact to entrepreneurs and start-ups at a regional level. Since 2000 CONNECT Denmark has assisted more than 350 entrepreneurs and start-ups through Pre-Springboards, Springboards and Board Member searches.

CONNECT Estonia

The activities of Connect Estonia are focused on the development of growth business, combining the required domestic and foreign capabilities.

The main emphasis of developing growth business is on acquiring the expertise that with the help of the private and public organizations belonging to the network. The main goal of the activities is to enable the accumulation of such expertise and the application of the expertise in the context of a company with a development ambition.

CONNECT Goa

Connect Goa has been set up as a sister company to Connect London. Its mission is to use the inspiration from CONNECT San Diego to help entrepreneurs in Goa set up and develop high growth businesses and assist them to develop markets outside of Goa and India. It works very closely with universities, government, local businesses, and the two new business incubators/accelerators now established in Goa. It is the first Connect initiative in India, but hopes to be the catalyst for new Connect projects throughout the country.

CONNECT Latvia

CONNECT Latvia is an organization that links entrepreneurs with the financial, technical and business development resources they need to create and develop high-growth companies in Latvia. By organizing activities and offering advice, CONNECT supports and improves the opportunities for entrepreneurs and startups.

CONNECT stimulates the development of growth companies by linking entrepreneurs with sources of know-how and capital. The needs of the entrepreneur are always central, and CONNECT's objective is to speed up the startups' commercialization and thus create additional jobs in Latvia.

CONNECT London

Connect London has been developed from Business Incubation, Business Angel and Mentoring programs. It is a new generation of incubators - an incubator without walls (IWW). Its objective is to define and deliver individually designed support to entrepreneurs who want to achieve high growth businesses in London. It is delivered by a large network of partners: Connect London champions who offer mentoring, funding and equity partnerships; professional organizations; physical incubators; universities, technology companies, market development specialists and UK government funded business support initiatives.

Connect London has a special program to offer "Soft Landings" to entrepreneurs throughout the world, from other Connect programs and elsewhere, who want to set up a physical or virtual presence in London.

CONNECT Venture Enterprises

CONNECT Venture Enterprises provides business development and management consulting helping entrepreneurs and high-growth SMEs become "business and investment ready", facilitating their connections to capital, people, expertise and professional services, and assisting them raise finance to commersialise innovation. We also manage and delivery ad hoc projects and specific events. Well-networked and with trusted partners, CONNECT Venture Enterprises follows the philosophy of helping to build a rising tide of economic growth through promoting and supporting entrepreneurship.

CONNECT Northwest

Connect Northwest is an independent nonpofit organization whose goal is to advance entrepreneurship and business growth in the Northwest U.S.. We represent a dynamic and growing network of innovators, entrepreneurs, business executives, and angel investors, all of whom are committed to advancing entrepreneurship and creating sustainable business in our region.

CONNECT Norway

CONNECT Norway is an organization that links entrepreneurs with the financial, technical and business development resources they need to create and develop high-growth companies in Norway. By organizing activities and offering advice, CONNECT supports and improves the opportunities for entrepreneurs and startups.

CONNECT Sweden

CONNECT Sweden links entrepreneurs with the financial, technical and business development resources they need to create and develop high-growth companies in Sweden. By organizing activities and offering advice, CONNECT supports and improves the opportunities for entrepreneurs and start-ups. The needs of the entrepreneur are always central, and CONNECT's objective is to speed up the start-ups' commercialization and thus create additional jobs in Sweden.

Institute for Information Industry

The Institute for Information Industry (III) was incorporated in 1979 as a non-governmental organization through the joint efforts of the public and private sectors to support the development/applications of theinformation industry as well as the informatoin society in Taiwan. Besides technology advancement, III's mission has evolved from information technology (IT) to information and communicaiton technology (ICT) devleopment with a wide social coverage.

III not only emphasizes cross-disciplinary environment, university-industry collaborations, techno-cultural co-development, but also has supported Taiwan's ICT industry with advanced technologies and international links that help strengthen global competitiveness.

CONNECT Yorkshire

CONNECT Yorkshire is the fast track for high growth companies in Yorkshire. We nurture enterprises by linking them with the resources they need to succeed: investment, markets, management, partners, and support services. As part of this process, we match innovative young companies with investors looking for growth.

Our dynamic network of sponsors, partners, and venture capitalists; drawn from the international business community, promotes the development of ideas and the exchange of valuable experiences via our business support programme and other investment raising activities.

CONNECT has the backing of industry and commerce, the Regional Development Agency and universities, all committed to working together to open doors to raising initial funding through to multi-million pound deals.

Daedeok Innopolis

Daedeok Innopolis represents a cluster of leading edge research institutes, universities and corporations that are working together to achieve commercial success on a global scale.

Daedeok Innopolis was established to proactively take measures to create new growth engines, and to ensure that its members are globally competitive. We are actively engaged in forming venture ecosystems, joint industry-academia research networks, as well as overseas exchanges.

Economic Partnership Development of Alabama

For 20 years, the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama has been a
catalyst for economic growth in the state. During that time, the Partnership has
contributed to Alabama’s greatest economic development successes. A totally
private, non-profit organization, EDPA is uniquely positioned to partner with
state, local and private entities involved in Alabama’s economic development
efforts. EDPA provides services to companies looking to locate in the state,
encourages emerging business development and assists companies and communities
who want to improve their competitive edge.

EGG Japan

Entrepreneur Group for Growing Japan (EGG JAPAN) is the nation’s first ‘creating base’ for new business projects. It is formed by ‘Tokyo 21c Club’ and the newly-opened ‘Incubation Office,’ consisting of venture firms that are the main targets of the Office. To provide the best environment for your business, Incubation Office attempts to reduce the usage fee by incentive programs and Tokyo 21c Club offers comprehensive business support by their effective use of human networks. Moreover, as one of our supporting systems for tenant companies, we have organized the Supporting Unit for Creating New Business, whose members are experienced capitalists for venture business, accountants and other staff related to industry-university cooperation.

Expatriate CONNECT

ExpatriateCONNECT (EC) is an export mentoring program, designed to accelerate Australian export outcomes, at the company level. ExpatriateConnect's program objective is to grow Australia's export potential (in the number of companies exporting, the quantity/value of exports and know-how to accessing export markets) through the development and delivery of export assistance and resources (assessments, insights, mentoring & coaching) for Australian businesses intending to export.

EC offers an on-line matching facility that connects Australians with global market experience to Australian companies seeking international business insights, to accelerate their export outcomes. This matching service provides a virtual bridge to share global Australian know-how with fellow Australians looking to expand overseas.

EC is an initiative of the Australian Institute of Commercialisation (AIC), a non-profit leader in commercialization education, the Southern Cross Group, a global organization supporting Australians abroad and ALBA National.

Global Midwest Alliance

Global Midwest Alliance is aligning and integrating resources throughout the Midwest of the United States for sustained economic development and business growth. The vision is to transform the region into an internationally recognized leader in high growth, globally competitive innovation and technology based companies. This business-lead organization was set up in response to the work of over 150 members of the community from public and private sectors.

In our programs and services we seek to:

develop and expand markets for businesses based in the Midwest region

encourage and assist international business activities in the Midwest

integrate business, financial and scientific resources to encourage and assist technology commercialization in the Midwest region

Innovate Manitoba

Innovate Manitoba is a not-for-profit, community-based organization focused on accelerating the commercialization of new technologies, promoting entrepreneurship and supporting the creation of next-generation start-ups, and stimulating access to capital for small and medium-sized enterprises. From nurturing the very inception of an idea to helping existing
businesses innovate and grow, Innovate Manitoba's programs will give a crucial helping
hand through all stages of the innovation lifecycle. Our public
programs, like PitchDay, LaunchPad, VentureChallenge and Startup Canada
offer opportunities for every stage of entrepreneurship, from providing
expert feedback on new ideas, to business mentorship, to securing
opportunities to pitch to investors. Our strategic initiatives are aimed
at removing barriers and creating the conditions that will allow
Manitoba's innovators to become more successful and bring their
innovations to market more quickly.

InSoCal CONNECT

InSoCal CONNECT is a private sector led 501(c)(6) organization focused on connecting businesses, government, and investors in the Inland Southern California region with the goal of upgrading the brand image and culture of the region’s economy. InSoCal CONNECT is committed to accelerating innovation and promoting the expansion, formation, and development of technology companies and exports in the expanded iHub region from the twin cities of Temecula/Murrieta northward to University of California Riverside to the City of Riverside.

Knowledge Exchange Wales

Swansea University and Bangor University have come together to form the new business network, Knowledge Exchange Wales (KEW), to offer their expertise and specialist facilities to business. KEW will enable universities and businesses to reach out to each other to drive forward collaborative projects with like-minded partners.

MaRS

MaRS was created in 2000 by a group of visionary business and community leaders concerned about Canada’s performance in the innovation economy. It is a convergence innovation centre located in Toronto’s renowned “Discovery District”. MaRS connects and fosters collaboration between the communities of science, business and capital through co-location in the MaRS Centre and more broadly through catalytic programs, structured networks and the MaRS web portal.

Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center

Recognizing the importance of exploiting the $4.5 billion spent on basic research at the universities, research institutions and research hospitals in the state, the Massachusetts legislature created and funded the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center in 2003.

The Center works closely with other programs also funded through the 2003 Economic Stimulus Bill, including the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the John Adams Innovation Institute, the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation and the Trust Fund.

The Center provides services to support the work of the Commonwealth's technology transfer offices with Massachusetts-based companies and investors.

Montréal InVivo

Montréal InVivo represents the life sciences and health technologies (LSHT) cluster of the Montréal metropolitan area. This cluster comprises almost 620 organizations, including more than 150 research centres, and 80 subsidiaries of world-class companies. There are more than 41,000 people employed in the sector. A wellspring of ideas, the cluster includes four universities and is ranked first in Canada in number of research centers. Montréal InVivo is a non-profit economic development organization dedicated to the creation of wealth. By mobilizing the relevant actors in order to meet crucial challenges such as innovation, and through the actions it undertakes and the implementation of its strategic plan, Montreal InVivo aims to ensure the sustainable development, long-term survivla, and international renown of the LSHT sector in Greater Montréal.

Munich Network links entrepreneurs and founders, industry and service enterprises, investors, research centers and universities and serves as their first linking and contact platform.

For the benefit of the regional technology companies Munich Network provides peer-to-peer networking, hands-on training, a network of institutional and private technology investors and an up-to-date conference program for deep-sight information on the most thrilling new technologies and market opportunities.

Integrated in the Munich Network the Munich Business Angel Network (MBAN) supports fast growing technology start-ups and innovative service enterprises with the search for investors. The focus of MBAN is the early-stage financing of ambitious enterprises in addition the later-stage financing.

Los Alamos CONNECT

Los Alamos Connect is the principal economic development investment by Los Alamos National Security LLC, the company that manages Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos CONNECT, administered by the Regional Development Corporation, provides a variety of services to help businesses achieve growth, continued success, and increase economic impact in Northern New Mexico.

OCTANe

OCTANe is fueling innovation development in Orange County and Southern California. By connecting people, capital and technology, OCTANe accelerates entrepreneurs and company development for Orange County's information technology and biomedical industries. Our stakeholder group includes some of the most promising start-ups, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, large companies, and the university sector, all working together to get more companies started, funded, and accelerated in OC and surrounding regions.

We help create, grow, support, staff, and fund more innovative biomedical and information technology companies in Orange County and Southern California.

Ontario Centres of Excellence

The Ontario Centres of Excellence is the pre-eminent research-to-commercialization vehicle in Ontario.

We take ideas to income. Created in response to Ontario’s most critical competitive challenges, we facilitate economic growth through support for industrially relevant R&D, the opening of new market opportunities and the commercialization of leading edge discovery. We build strong industry and academic relationships. And, we stimulate knowledge transfer through the development of bright minds, moving their skills to the market.

Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship

The Queen Rania Center Entrepreneurship (QRCE) is a not-for-profit and non-governmental organization.it was established in October of 2004 and located at the EL Hassan Science City, Jubaiha-Jordan. It's mission is to support economics growth by providing an array of services in entrepreneurship development and technology commercialization through the several programs conducted by QRCE.

SETsquared Partnership

The SETsquared Partnership is an enterprise collaboration between the UK Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey. With over 7,400 researchers and 10% of the UK's academic research funding the Partnership represents the largest single source of academic knowledge transfer in the UK. The Partnership supports the creation of new technology businesses and licenses from its research base and the local community as well as facilitating industry-academia collaborative research and providing enterprise education and training to its researchers. In the last 3 years four SETsquared Partnership companies have achieved IPOs, with a total market cap of £160 million and 170 early stage technology companies have been supported through its Business Acceleration Centres.

UC Davis InnovationAccess

UC Davis InnovationAccess, formerly Technology Industry Alliances/UC Davis CONNECT, is part of the Office of Research of the University of California, San Diego. We provide services that connect research to the marketplace and are focused specifically on protecting and commercializing intellectual property, and fostering entrepreneurship within the campus community. Our team is comprised of more than 20 professionals with PhDs, JDs, and MBAs with significant private sector experience and are organized into two service platforms:

Technology Transfer Services evaluates and patents inventions from UC Davis faculty, researchers, and staff, and licenses those inventions for commercialization in the private sector, in order to benefit the public.